A MAN who lives as a vampire is hoping to raise awareness of cyber-bullying after he said he received thousands of comments over social media sites.

Darkness Vlad Tepes, who has lived as a vampire for 13 years and sleeps in a made-to-measure coffin, said he received many positive comments after his story was told in the Lancashire Telegraph and later shared around the world.

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But he said he was also subject to online bullying with people threatening to pull out his fangs, burn him in his coffin and put a stake through his heart.

He said the comments have come from across the world including Germany, Russia, Poland and China.

The 25-year-old has called for the law to be changed to make cyber-bullying a crime. and threats made online to be treated the same as if they were made in the street.

He said: “Social media has become an escape route for people to make threats and avoid being prosecuted.

“If it happens face-to-face you can be prosecuted. With social media there is not much the police can do about it. I think the law should be changed.

“I have received both positive and negative feedback. I’m receiving a lot of positive feedback on the street. People are taking an interest in the story and understand where I am coming from.

“It is about being able to go out in public and be able to dress how you want to without being judged by society. On social media people can hide behind fake email addresses and profiles.

“People get bullied in school and they think they are safe when they go home, but it carries on on Facebook.

“The comments get deleted when I challenge them. I give them an invitation to come and meet me, but they back down. If people are willing to meet you can explain to them all the facts and that we are genuine people.

“I am not an evil man and I give back to society.”

Lancashire Police confirmed they had spoken to Darkness, but said that no crime has been committed.